Old Disciplines, New Uses Read online

  “Now that you all have arrived, I can fill you in on what is happening,” Petrai said with no preamble. “An enemy invasion force of Under-elves from Halsfere is trying to find their way through the Shifting Tunnels and so eventually find their way to the front gates of Relkanav. However, thanks to our regular patrol scouts beside the Duty Patrol ones, the enemy force was discovered while one of the scouting pairs was not. Our warriors returned at speed, reported in to their Tertius, and not long afterwards reported to the Primus himself. He has put Relkanav on alert. The Primus also has already ordered the Shifting Tunnels that surround and protect our city-state to be activated. The new configuration that the tunnels will be changed over into will drive the enemy force to the middle of the three killing fields, which is the largest.”

  Arghen smiled. If their Captain was telling them so much, it meant they were about to be sent out to battle.

  “Tenax dranth corps and Gravis dranth corps, along with our respective attendant battle corps warriors, have been given the honor of being sent out to deal with the enemy. A further two dranth-and-battle-corps, Jacto and Marmor Forces, will remain in readiness before the city gates in case reinforcements are required.” She paused and swept her eyes down the line. “I trust that they will not be needed?”

  “No, Captain!” came from every throat assembled before her.

  “Then mount up!” she ordered.

  Twenty dranth warriors were armored and armed, and twenty dranth were bridled, saddled and mounted, in record time. Captain Petrai led them out to the regular barracks area to pick up their twenty waiting Tenax battle corps warriors, who looked as eager to go as the dranth corps warriors did. The battle corps merged seamlessly with the dranth corps; one battle corps warrior to one dranth corps warrior. Arghen nodded to his usual battle companion, Actus, who nodded back. Actus and he had spent many Brightenings training together for this eventuality, and the look that passed between them was an eager one. Every being in the merged unit knew that the Halsfere strike force, whatever it size was, needed to be stopped before they could reach the gates. Even if just one enemy Under-elf somehow slipped past all the defenses and reached the room that housed the controls for the Shifting Tunnels, he or she could wreak enough damage to freeze open the Tunnels, allowing a larger Halsferian force to attack with near impunity.

  The Captain surveyed the merged forces for a moment, and then signaled the full Tenax Force to march across the Military training grounds to the city-state gates. The grounds were now mostly empty, Arghen knew, because Jacto and Marmor Forces would have been ordered out of Tenax’s and Gravis’ way. The backup Forces would march out behind Tenax/Gravis and take up their position before the bronzed gates, which would close behind them. All other Military personnel would be waiting, armed and armored by their barracks, for any further instructions from the Primus.

  Tenax Force met with Gravis Force at the city-state gates. As Captain Petrai had more experience, the other Captain deferred to her. Eighty-six warriors waited impatiently for the gates to open so they could sally forth. Arghen couldn’t help but look for Sub-leader Lapideus, and found to his surprise that she was already eyeing him. When he made eye contact with her, they exchanged smiles. He then widened his a little more flirtatiously while adding a raised eyebrow and was pleased to see that she returned one in kind. The opening of the two-story bronzed gates interrupted their unspoken communication.

  Every being turned forward, waiting. When the signal gong came, the Relkanavian forces leapt eagerly forward. Mindful of their battle corps warriors on foot, though, the dranth corps kept their mounts to a walk. But unspoken excitement flowed like a water current among the Under-elves as they marched through the tunnels, past the first killing field and heading for the second one where their enemies had been trapped. This was what all Under-elves, though the Military especially, lived for: war. Careers were made and broken on the battlefield. Every warrior, dranth or battle corps, dreamed of a field promotion because it was the most respected of all rank advancements in Under-elf society.

  Arghen was eager. As a Scout from time to time, he had been on skirmishes with both Under-elves and Surfacers before. And, having had taken his turns in the Duty Patrols, he had fought monsters who had slunk within Relkanavian-claimed limits. But this was Arghen’s first, full real battle.

  If I can acquit myself well enough during this battle, perhaps I will be elevated in rank to Sub-leader on the field! he thought with suppressed excitement.

  If that happened, then he might be able to use his prestige reward this Darkening to get that much closer to a Captain’s rank. Then after that, if he continued to do well in the Skirmish—and there was no reason to believe he could not—he would soon be among the youngest Captains in recent history. He gripped his plain but sturdy war spear in an excess of anticipation as the combined Forces approached the second of the three killing fields.

  As the Relkanavians had not encountered any Halsferian enemies on the way, the Shifting Tunnels had done their work in funneling the enemy to the proper killing field. Every Under-elf in Tenax and Gravis Forces knew that the Halsferians would fight like monsters to try and allow some number of their force to slip beyond the killing field so they could do their dirty work in Relkanav. The Relkanavian warriors’ responsibility to the Primus and the city-state was to prevent that from happening. Captain Petrai, before opening the tunnel stone that would lead to the battleground, gave orders for the forces to split. The battle corps were to search out and destroy the ambushes that were no doubt waiting among the stalagmites, and the dranth corps were to engage the enemy dranth. Arghen exchanged glances with Actus and silently wished him fortune. The natural rocks of the killing field had been deliberately left alone by the High Councilors. The offer of cover by the stalagmites, stone columns, and boulders made killing opponents who might think they had a hope more enjoyable. Or so conventional wisdom said. Arghen, during the practices held here, had never found it so—it was simply a duty that had to be done. But Arghen knew that there were members of both his corps who found the hide-and-seek invigorating, and they relished this chance to actually do it.

  As the stone rolled away and allowed entry into the killing field, the Relkanavian forces charged into the cavern. Arghen saw roughly forty to fifty opponents facing them on dranths armored for battle, which meant there would be about the same amount hidden in ambush positions around the huge cave. The Halsferian dranth corps leapt forward to meet the Relkanavians’ charge, and the tide of battle soon rolled and flowed across the rocky space. Halsferians fought as expected, recklessly and with abandon, since they had nothing to lose. Their only goal was to take as many Relkanavians with them as they could when they died to provide cover for those with the task of getting to the controls room. The Relkanavians, however, fought with a little more care because all the warriors wanted to get back to Relkanav to enjoy the after ceremonies that would be held in their honor for defending the city-state. But because they fought with care didn’t mean they didn’t fight valiantly or skillfully.

  The battle was fierce, but realistically there was only one outcome, as far as Arghen was concerned. He had been positioned midway in the Relkanavian forces as they charged, and he maneuvered his dranth to push through the front line when it engaged to find an enemy who was not fighting yet. He aimed for a Halsferian who was a couple of lines back, and the two of them aimed their spears at each other. Both warriors avoided the tips, so Arghen quickly stood up in the stirrups and slid his hands up the shaft for more of a staff strike. The Halsferians did the same but he was not as strong as Arghen, and he got shoved out of the saddle. A Gravis battle corps member appeared out of nowhere to deliver the finishing blow, so Arghen signaled his thanks before wheeling Stalker around to find another enemy.

  He started to ride to the aid of Fulvus, but was blindsided from the left. Arghen was knocked from Stalker by the same attack he’d used on Sub-leader Lapideus in the Skirmish. Time slowed for Arghen as he left the sadd
le, and the training that he’d put himself through for this particular move, both for and against, kicked into play. Arghen managed to twist himself to the side so that he and his attacker both fell to the rocky floor equally. They jumped simultaneously to their feet and grabbed for their spears. Arghen directed Stalker to engage the enemy dranth to prevent his opponent from setting it on him. Stalker, already blooded and keyed up by the fighting, vented his enthusiasm on the other dranth, and the two engaged in their own side battle.

  Arghen stood loose and ready as he eyed his attacker. His white hair was damp under his helmet, and he was breathing harder now than he had been at the beginning of this battle. He began to wonder if he’d make it to the end because his armor seemed heavier now. Grim-eyed, his assailant exploded towards him, her spear set to strike; he spun his own sturdy wooden war spear in a practiced circle to block her attack. Arghen then lunged to impale the insignia on the chest of her armor in return, but she blocked his attack just as easily using the same technique he had. She was good, very good, but to his semi-experienced eye it looked like she was tiring as much as he. That was a relief.

  Arghen slid forward over the level rock plain of the killing field to thrust his spear through her middle. His opponent turned smoothly sideways, and his spear tip passed by her stomach. Then, with a sweeping motion, she brought her weapon down to knock his out of the way. Arghen went with the direction his spear had been sent, but re-directed the momentum back in a circle to assault her from the other side. She was ready for that, though, holding her spear with two hands like a staff and catching the shaft of his spear on hers. She sashayed to the side, letting his weapon slide down hers briefly before shoving it, and him, off. He went backwards with the shove, but then rocked forward and, grabbing the shaft in a close-up two-handed grip, lunged forward and aimed for her chest insignia again. She dropped to one knee to avoid him, and her spear aided her once more by being used two-handed in another high block. She jumped to her feet to throw him and his spear off her weapon with a straight arm thrust, but he had guessed that was coming. Arghen spun both his body and his weapon around in place and came back to a guarded ready position.

  The battlefield around them receded and grew silent as the fight narrowed for Arghen. All he could see was her. She was beautiful, deadly, experienced, and an enemy. A potent combination. Their fight was almost like a Skirmish—no, a dance—between them; they were so evenly matched. Strikes met with blocks that flowed into return strikes and more blocked attacks. Arghen’s blood sang in his veins and his breath came hard. He had never felt so alive. But finally she made the tiniest mistake. A block of hers was not as strong as it could have been, and he powered through it to slice his spear tip into the gap between her armor and her neck.

  She abruptly stood still in shock, spear dropping from her nerveless fingers; blood pumping from the hole in her neck. Arghen felt sorrow, and then felt like he’d somehow betrayed her and their dance by killing her, even though that was the only outcome that could have happened for either of them. He knew from both schooling and experience that his opponent would not likely live out this Brightening from the wound he’d given her as she dropped to her knees. Respect for the well fought fight made him swoop in to catch her, and then lie her almost tenderly down on the rocky floor. Standing, he placed a hand over his heart and gave her a slight bow. She nodded thanks at him, understanding what he was about to do. Arghen drove his war spear home into the other side of her neck to send her to her final rest and to spare her the pain of a lingering death.

  An angry screech went up behind Arghen as he withdrew the spear, and he winced as the battle abruptly flashed back into existence around him. He closed his eyes as he remembered his battlefield instructions from schooling. What had he been thinking? He should have stayed his hand so information could have been gotten from the now cooling body of what once had been a magnificent fighter. Stalker, having won his battle, came up to nudge Arghen’s hand as Arghen waited for an angry Captain Petrai to thunder up to him.

  CHAPTER 4

  “You killed her! You traitor! We could have interrogated her before she died to get whatever information she knew!” Captain Petrai yelled at Arghen over the sounds of battle, casually blocking a stray arrow shot that flew their way.

  “She would not have lived much longer,” Arghen tried to calm the Captain with logic, waving his hand at the condition of the body that lay between them.

  That was not exactly true, but he hoped that the blood from his opponent’s wounds would hide the first strike he’d made.

  “You do not know that! Are you all of a sudden a healer who can diagnose the condition of an opponent after you drive your spear home? Even if you were a healer, you still should have made her talk and learn what brought them here!”

  Arghen winced. That was one of a warrior’s duties. If an opponent was not killed outright in battle, the enemy was to be made to talk by any possible manner until their life seeped away. He’d always skipped over that part of the instruction in schooling because it made him uncomfortable, and now the consequences of his feelings were coming home hard.

  “She could have lived long enough to give us information! Imbecile! You have no business being allowed any sort of command! Get yourself to the tunnel entrance back to Relkanav, and stay there until I have time to deal with you!” Captain Petrai finished furiously, waving her war spear menacingly at him.

  Arghen hesitated in obeying her for a few seconds, trying to find words to placate her. But his too-long hesitation was enough of a disobedience to cause the Captain to raise her weapon and bring it down on the scaly backside of Arghen’ mount and cut into the scales. Stalker opened his sharp-toothed mouth in a roar at the sudden pain from an unexpected source, and shied away. Arghen quickly threw himself aboard Stalker before the dranth ran away out of control. He maneuvered Stalker to the tunnel mouth as ordered, humiliated. Once there, with his adrenaline dissipating, Arghen discovered he had somehow been wounded as well. He had no idea how or when it had happened. But as he was the only one at the tunnel mouth, he was forced to tend to his and his dranth’s wounds alone.

  As he did, her words played over and over in his head, and he realized that Captain Petrai must be jealous of him. But why? She was a Captain, and he just a warrior. Then it came to him: he was a warrior who had won a Skirmish and was set to become a Sub-leader, and was one who had caught the eye of Petrai’s superior. Arghen had heard the whispers that Petrai and Tertius Stiractus were not the most amiable of allies, so perhaps she was concerned for her prospects with the rising of his career. But figuring out Petrai’s motivations didn’t make Arghen feel any better, though, nor did it change his circumstances.

  When the battle was over, a messenger rode past Arghen to inform Relkanav of its victory, to check that no Halsferians had made it past the killing field, and to call for those who would handle the aftermath. The messenger eyed him with puzzlement, but didn’t stop to ask why Arghen was there as the rider entered the tunnel mouth. Almost immediately afterwards Marceus and Silex came to fetch Arghen. Stone-faced, they forced him to walk on foot between their dranths, without Stalker, towards Captain Petrai. The Captain meanwhile had ordered the troops into position in a clear spot, Tenax House standing with Tenax House and Gravis with Gravis. Arghen knew this would be for a battlefield debriefing. Somewhat less than three quarters, but more than half, of those Relkanavians who had gone out stood in ranks before her as Arghen and his two guards came up behind the Captain. Wistfully, Arghen saw Actus standing alone in their accustomed place and was pleased to see that he had survived.

  “Tenax Force and Gravis Force, I say to you: well done!” Captain Petrai proudly told them.

  The warriors assembled nodded their heads once, knowing enough not to interrupt a debriefing with cheers.

  “You have acquitted yourselves bravely, and no reinforcements were needed. I congratulate you all. However,” she continued, growing solemn, “there is one member of this combined co
mpany to whom I will NOT say that.”

  Glances passed among the warriors, and those on the edges of the formation raised their eyebrows as they saw Arghen on foot behind Petrai between the two still mounted Sub-leaders. So far it was playing out like the battlefield promotions Arghen had heard of in the past, and he was confused. Was the Captain mad at him, or not? Her next words confirmed his worst fears.

  Petrai turned her dranth sideways as she said, “Arghen Spinam, present yourself!”

  Arghen walked to stand in front of her dranth, head held high.

  “Arghen Spinam. You are indicted a traitor to Relkanav. You stand accused for not interrogating a fallen enemy who could still talk. You stand accused of killing said enemy so that others of the Relkanavian forces could not get information from that enemy. You stand accused of showing mercy to an enemy. You stand accused of not instantly obeying a superior in battle. How do you plead?”

  Arghen said nothing as unprecedented murmurings started among the assembled warriors. What could he say? She was right. Despite all his training, when it had come down to it he had not done exactly what he was supposed to do. He glanced at his battle corps warrior partner, but quickly looked away again. He could not bear to see the stunned look in Actus’ eyes. Fulvus’ and Lapideus’ eyes he did not want to meet at all.

  Captain Petrai waited a couple of heartbeats. When Arghen was still silent, she turned her head to the side and addressed the warriors.

  “Note that he does not deny the charges. At least he is still honest, if nothing else.” She turned back to look at him. “Arghen Spinam, you deserve immediate death as the culmination of those four charges.”